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7 × 10.5 SPINE: 0 FLAPS: 0 B A S I C BOOKS SPRING & SUMMER 2 O 2 1 978-1-5416-2040-7 Renowned publisher of serious nonfiction by leading intellectuals, scholars, and journalists spring & summer 2021 new titles new hardcovers 3 paperbacks 21 highlights 24 meet the editors 28 about basic books 30 contact information 31 COVER DESIGN: CHIN-YEE LAI COVER IMAGES: (FRONT) DETAIL. ADDISON GALLERY OF AMERICAN ART, PHILLIPS ACADEMY, ANDOVER, MA / ART RESOURCE, NY; (BACK) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN, SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM STEPHON ALEXANDER FEAR OF A BLACK UNIVERSE An Outsider’s Guide to the Future of Physics ears ago, cosmologist Stephon Alexan- der received life-changing advice: to Y discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks. In Fear of a Black Universe, Alexander shows that great physics requires us to think outside the mainstream— to improvise and rely on intuition. His approach leads him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invari- ance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence. Alexander uses them to explore some of physics’ greatest mysteries, from what A cosmologist argues that happened before the Big Bang to how the uni- physics must embrace the excluded, verse makes consciousness possible. Drawing listen to the unheard, and be on his experience as a Black physicist, he makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific unafraid of being wrong communities. Compelling and empowering, Fear of a Black Universe offers remarkable insight into the art of physics. NEW HARDCOVER • MAY Physics • $28.00 / $35.00 CAN STEPHON ALEXANDER 6 x 9¼ • 272 pages is a professor of physics at 978-1-5416-9963-2 Brown University and the 2020 president of the National Society E-BOOK 978-1-5416-9961-8 of Black Physicists. He is also a Selling Territory: USC jazz musician and released his first electronic Author photo © Heather Goodell jazz album with Erin Rioux. The author of The Jazz of Physics, Alexander lives in Providence, Rhode Island. basic books • 3 JON DUNN THE GLITTER IN THE GREEN In Search of Hummingbirds ummingbirds are a glittering, sparkling collective of over three Hhundred wildly variable species. For centuries, they have been revered by indigenous Americans, coveted by European collectors, and admired worldwide for their unsurpassed metallic plumage and immense character. Yet they exist on a knife-edge, fighting for survival in boreal woodlands, dripping cloud forests, and subpolar islands. They are, perhaps, the ulti- mate embodiment of evolution’s power to carve a niche for a delicate creature in even the harshest An acclaimed natural history of places. writer follows the trail of the Traveling the full length of the humming- remarkable hummingbird birds’ range, from the cusp of the Arctic Circle to near-Antarctic islands, acclaimed nature writer Jon Dunn encounters birders, scientists, and storytellers in his quest to find these beguiling creatures, immersing us in the world of one of NEW HARDCOVER • APRIL Earth’s most charismatic bird families. Nature • $30.00 / $38.00 CAN 6 x 9¼ • 320 pages JON DUNN is a natural his- Thirty-two color plates tory writer, photographer, and 978-1-5416-1819-0 wildlife tour leader. His writ- E-BOOK 978-1-5416-1818-3 ing has appeared in a number Selling Territory: USC of magazines, including BBC Wildlife. He is the author of three previous books, including Orchid Summer. He lives on his croft on the remote Shetland Islands. basic books • 4 AKHIL REED AMAR THE WORDS THAT MADE US America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760–1840 hen the US Constitution won pop- ular approval in 1788 , it was the W culmination of thirty years of pas- sionate argument over the nature of government. But ratification hardly ended the conversation. For the next half century, ordinary Americans and statesmen alike continued to wrestle with weighty questions in the halls of government and in the pages of newspapers. Should the nation’s borders be expanded? Should America allow slavery to spread westward? What rights should Indian nations hold? What was the proper role of the judicial branch? A history of the American Constitution’s In The Words that Made Us, Akhil Reed formative decades, from a Amar unites history and law in a vivid narra - preeminent legal scholar tive of the biggest constitutional questions early Americans confronted, and he expertly assesses the answers they offered. His account of the doc- ument’s origins and consolidation is a guide for NEW HARDCOVER • MAY anyone seeking to properly understand America’s Law / History • $35.00 / $44.00 CAN Constitution today. 6 x 9¼ • 656 pages Forty black-and-white illustrations AKHIL REED AMAR is the 978-0-465-09635-0 Sterling professor of law and E-BOOK 978-0-465-09636-7 political science at Yale Univer- sity and the author of several Selling Territory: W books on constitutional law and Author photo © Harold Shapiro history, including America’s Constitution: A Biogra- phy and America’s Unwritten Constitution. He lives in Woodbridge, Connecticut. basic books • 5 DAMBISA MOYO HOW BOARDS WORK And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World orporate boards are under great pres- sure. Scandals and malpractice at com- C panies like Theranos, WeWork, Uber, and Wells Fargo have raised justified questions among regulators, shareholders, and the pub- lic about the quality of corporate governance. In How Boards Work, prize-winning economist and veteran board director Dambisa Moyo offers an insider’s view of corporate boards as they are buffeted by the turbulence of our times. Moyo argues that corporations need A New York Times–bestselling boards that are more transparent, more knowl- author and veteran board member edgeable, more diverse, and more deeply offers an insider’s view of corporate involved in setting the strategic course of the boards, their struggles, and companies they lead. How Boards Work offers a why they must adapt to survive road map for how boards can steer companies through tomorrow’s challenges and ensure they thrive to benefit their employees, shareholders, and society at large. NEW HARDCOVER • MAY Business • $30.00 / $38.00 CAN DAMBISA MOYO is a prize- 6 x 9¼ • 304 pages winning author of the New York 978-1-5416-1942-5 Times bestsellers Edge of Chaos, E-BOOK 978-1-5416-1941-8 Winner Take All, and Dead Aid, Selling Territory: USC and she was named one of the Author photo © Helen Jones Photography “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine. Moyo regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. She lives in New York City and London. basic books • 6 SEAN MCMEEKIN STALIN’S WAR A New History of World War II e remember World War II as a strug- gle between good and evil, with W Hitler propelling events and the Allied powers saving the day. But Hitler’s armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his empire did not span the Eurasian continent, and he did not inherit the spoils of war. That role belonged to Joseph Stalin. Hitler’s genocidal ambition may have unleashed Armageddon, but as celebrated historian Sean McMeekin shows, the conflicts that emerged were the result of Stalin’s maneu- verings, orchestrated to unleash a war between capitalist powers in Europe and between Japan A major new history and the Anglo-American forces in the Pacific. of the Second World War by a Meanwhile, the United States and Britain’s prize-winning historian self-defeating strategy of supporting Stalin and his armies at all costs allowed the Soviets to con- quer most of Eurasia, from Berlin to Beijing, for Communism. NEW HARDCOVER • APRIL A groundbreaking reassessment, Stalin’s History • $40.00 / $50.00 CAN War is essential reading for anyone looking to 6 x 9¼ • 768 pages understand the roots of the current world order. Twenty-four maps, fifty black-and-white illustrations 978-1-5416-7279-6 SEAN MCMEEKIN is a pro- E-BOOK 978-1-5416-7277-2 fessor of history at Bard College. The award-winning author of Selling Territory: USC several books, including The Author photo © Nesrin Ersoy Russian Revolution, July 1914, and The Ottoman Endgame, McMeekin lives in Clermont, New York. basic books • 7 SIMON MCCARTHY-JONES SPITE The Upside of Your Dark Side pite seems utterly useless. You don’t gain anything by hurting yourself just so you S can hurt someone else. So why hasn’t evolution weeded out all the spiteful people? As psychologist Simon McCarthy-Jones argues, spite seems pointless because we’re look- ing at it wrong. Spite isn’t just what we feel when a car cuts us off or when a partner cheats. It’s what we feel when we want to punish a bad act simply because it was bad. Spite is our fairness instinct, an innate resistance to exploitation, and it is one of the building blocks of human civilization. As McCarthy-Jones explains, some of history’s How petty vengeance most important developments—the rise of reli- explains human thriving gions, governments, and even moral codes—were actually redirections of spiteful impulses. A provocative, engaging read, Spite shows that if you really want to understand what makes us human, you can’t just look at noble ideas like NEW HARDCOVER • APRIL altruism and cooperation. You need to under- Science • $28.00 / $35.00 CAN stand our darker impulses as well. 5½ x 8¼ • 272 pages 978-1-5416-4699-5 SIMON MCCARTHY-JONES E-BOOK 978-1-5416-4698-8 is associate professor of psy - Selling Territory: USC chology at Trinity College Dub- lin.